Question

Identify five public policy issues and rank them in order of importance. For each issue explain in detail the central problem that needs to be addressed by government. The issues should be limited to the following categories listed in your syllabus: Civil rights, criminal justice, education, government finance, economic policy, social welfare policy, the environment, national security. Write it in your own words.

Answer 1

The federal government is the deciding entity of public polices in the USA. These policies are constituted through laws, executive decisions and legal precedents by the executive bench. The Almanac of Policy Issues states following five main public policy issues:-

1) Education Policy

2) Criminal Justice

3) Environment

4) National Security

5) Agricultural Policy

1. Education Policy:- During the 21st century major changes have made their way in US higher education due to changing technology, mergers and closings, and politics.

Main issues concerning the higher education are as listed below:-

1- Financial difficulties, mergers and downsizing:- Due to financial constraints many colleges are either shutting their doors, expected to close or merge. This has resulted in a negative rating by Moody’s credit rating agency in Dec 2017.

2- State Budgets and College Affordability:- In 2019, Moody’s negative rating has emphasized on higher education’s rising costs s—primarily labor—that outpace revenue growth. Moody’s also opined that to remain competitive in the market place, investments in academic programs, housing and technology are essential which increases costs.

3- Enrolment at Public colleges:- In June 2018, Moody's released data on declining college enrolments and constraints, noting that tuition pricing would suppress tuition revenue growth. Enrolment in two-year and four-year colleges and universities has remained relatively low.

4- Economic and Workforce Development:-“ Brain Drain”       is the main concern for state lawmakers as they remain concerned that students and recent college graduates are flocking to other states. Access to high paying jobs in state through affordable pathways to college credentials are issues to look into.

5- Free College:- Implementation of free college and programs are issues to ponder upon.

6- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: - The changes brought about by the TCJA will significantly affect higher education policymaking. In Virginia, for example, changes from federal tax reform have been cited as a core driver of the state’s budget surplus. Due to the influx in revenue, the governor plans to use some of the surplus to make key investments in higher education.

7- Campus Violence- Sexual Assault and Guns in Campus:- Sexual Assualt in campuses has been highlighted as major issue in campuses and more legislations need to be filed by states to combat its impact. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 10 states explicitly allow guns on campus, while the rest of the states either ban weapons through state law or allow campus or system governing bodies to develop their own policies.

2. Criminal Justice:- Drug Policy

The Office of National Drug Control Policy establishes The drug policy of the United States is component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, which was established by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. Its stated goal is to establish policies, priorities, and objectives to eradicate illicit drug use, drug manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences in the U.S.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy's two current specific goals are to "curtail illicit drug consumption in America" and to "improve the public health and public safety of the American people by reducing the consequences of drug abuse. They plan to achieve these goals by taking the following actions:

· Strengthen efforts to prevent drug use in communities

· Seek early intervention opportunities in health care

· Integrate treatment for substance use disorders into health care, and expand support for recovery

· Break the cycle of drug use, crime, delinquency, and incarceration

· Disrupt domestic drug trafficking and production

· Strengthen international partnerships

· Improve information systems for analysis, assessment, and local management

3. Environment  

The energy policy of the United States addresses issues of energy production, distribution, and consumption, such as building codes and gas mileage standards. The United States Department of Energy plays a major role, and its mission is "to ensure America's security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions."

Moreover, the White House provides a summary of the United States' current condition regarding its energy policy: "For decades it has been clear that the way Americans produce and consume energy is not sustainable. Our addiction to foreign oil and fossil fuels puts our economy, our national security and our environment at risk. To take this country in a new direction, the President is working with Congress to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation to protect our nation from the serious economic and strategic risks associated with our reliance on foreign oil, to create jobs, and to cut down on the carbon pollution that contributes to the destabilizing effects of climate change."

The following is brief of the United States' current energy policy goals:

· Clean Energy Economy: make the investments in clean energy sources that will put Americans back in control of our energy future, create millions of new jobs and lay the foundation for long-term economic security. This will be accomplished by taking the following actions:

o Initiating recovery act investments in clean energy

o Applying more stringent appliance efficiency standards

o Leading the way in sustainability

o Creating efficiency standards for cars and trucks

o Making homes more energy efficient

4. National Security: Main Issues pertaining to National Security as as listed below:-

1. Border Security
2. Defense Spending

v war authorization

1. Cyber Threats
2. Election Security
3. Trade
4. Domestic Extremism
5. Terrorism

5. Agricultural Policy:- Agricultural policy of the United States is the governing policy for agriculture in the United States and is composed primarily of the periodically renewed federal U.S. farm bills.

In "A New Agricultural Policy for the United States," authors Dennis Keeney and Long Kemp summarize the agricultural policy of the United States as follows: "Because of its unique geography, weather, history and policies, the United States has an agriculture that has been dominated by production of commodity crops for use in animal, industrial and export enterprises. Over time agricultural policies evolved to support an industrialized, commodity-based agriculture. This evolution resulted in farmers leaving the land with agriculture moving to an industrial structure.